John Hanson was stationed at Hickam Field on the island of Oahu during the Pearl Harbor attack.

On Sunday morning, Dec. 7, 1941, John Hanson and his weather technologist were in their assigned positions of duty in the watchtower at Hickam Field on the island of Oahu, the United States largest air base in Hawaii.

"Picture a control tower at an airport, only not as modern as today," Hanson explained.

Earlier this fall, while surrounded by family members in his seasonal residence in Suttons Bay, Hanson -- a former U.S. Air Corps master sergeant -- described his memories of Pearl Harbor.

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Hanson is one of only 1.7 million living today out of the original 16 million men and women who participated in World War II.

Recalling the details

"That is what our tower looked like. As station manager, I controlled all incoming and outgoing aircraft. You had to know what you were doing; always thinking out front with your head screwed on tight.

"We had been alerted that something was going to happen, and we knew there were U.S. bombers on maneuvers," he recalled. "At 7:55 a.m., we heard groaning planes. We looked north and saw a large wave of planes coming and didn't know what they were. Pretty soon there was a large explosion from a bomb that had exploded. We saw the rising sun, and then we knew ..."

Several of Hanson's grandchildren and his wife listened intently to him share images and sounds of the surprise attack that eventually killed or wounded 3,684 Americans.

"I first alerted the rest of the island with Morse Code," he said while tapping his fingers on the dining room table. "The intensity of the attack was indescribable, unbelievable. There were crashes, explosions and crews running around the tarmac. There were so many bombs ... hangars were hit ... our planes were strafed ... there were pieces of buildings and equipment flying in the air.

"Soon, there were fireboats sending their streams of water toward fires. The noise didn't affect us much because we were used to loud noises, but the scenes were powerful. It was chaos," Hanson remembered.

Return trip

John and wife, Julie, made a trip back to Hawaii in November 2001 (just after the 9/11 attack in New York City). They went to Hickam Field, to the watchtower. With State Department approval, they were given a special tour. John climbed the steps to the top of the structure and went out on the deck. The pock marks on the walls had been preserved. He stood again where he had once stood as a young solider.

Julie Hanson is the quarterback of John's care these days, as the family has moved him back to their permanent home in Bloomfield Hills. He is currently a hospice client.

At the suggestion that he might be in the "winter" of his days, John is quick to correct that to the "fall," of his days, but the family is aware of the imminence that is at hand.

"We have had a miraculous marriage," she said. "We are best friends and a great team. Life has been so good. We have our family around us and we have traveled all over the world. I must say how absolutely phenomenal Munson Hospice has been. I didn't realize it could be this wonderful.